Stability and dynamics of dendritic spines in macaque prefrontal cortex

Ming Chen; Junqian Qi; Muming Poo; Yang Yang

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwac125

Stability and dynamics of dendritic spines in macaque prefrontal cortex

Natl Sci Rev. 2022 Jun 27;9(9):nwac125. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac125. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Ming Chen¹, Junqian Qi^{1

2

3}, Muming Poo^{1

2

3

4}, Yang Yang²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
² School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.
³ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology, Lingang Laboratory, Shanghai 200031, China.

Abstract

Formation and elimination of synapses reflect structural plasticity of neuronal connectivity. Here we performed high-resolution two-photon imaging of dendritic spines in the prefrontal cortex of four macaque monkeys and found that spines were in general highly stable, with low percentages undergoing synaptic turnover. By observing the same spines at weekly intervals, we found that newly formed spines were more susceptible to elimination, with only 40% persisting over a period of months. Analyses of spatial distribution of large numbers of spines revealed that spine distribution was neither uniform nor random, favoring inter-spine distances of 2-4 μm. Furthermore, spine formation and elimination occurred more often in low- and high-density dendritic segments, respectively, and preferentially within a hot zone of ∼4 μm from existing spines. Our results demonstrate long-term stability and spatially regulated spine dynamics in the macaque cortex and provide a structural basis for understanding neural circuit plasticity in the primate brain.

Keywords: dendritic spine distribution; dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex; long-term two-photon imaging; macaque monkey; regulation of spine dynamics; spine plasticity.